Going into Corrupting for the first time, probably as a DP/Rad.

I've never really played Corrupters before (Had an AR/Kin that didn't make it out of the single digit levels a long time back), but lately I've started finding myself curious about DP. Combine this with being interested in trying a Corrupter for myself and the answer was quite obvious.

The reason I picked /Rad is because quite frankly it looks awesome in terms of effectiveness, but I'll admit I know very little about how either powerset plays out in the long term or how strong this combination will end up being, either in teams or in solo combat, so I'm quite open to advice and feedback on this combo.

That said, I've heard DP isn't the strongest primary around, but I'm somewhat set on it due to the animations which I quite love. Is that gonna be too big of a deal, or am I simply worrying too much? I know it'll never be a Fire/Rad in terms of damage, but I'm hoping the power of /Rad might help to make up for any weakness DP has as a primary.

Thanks in advance for any help!

DP/rad is good pick but DP's arent the easiest or most powerful in the game. I have a DP/rad at lvl 49 that plays really well in teams and should be awsome when slotted with a few purple. Bangster is my 3rd attempt at a DP. The first 2 got scrapped around lvl 20 because I didn't enjoy playing them much-the reasons are that the best powers are at high lvls and they are diifficult to solo. My advice at low lvls would be to find teams or your going to get frustrated.
The principals I followed were to build for teaming rather than solo until I got Hail of Bullets and EM Pulse. Once you have those you will want good recharge to keep them comming up quickly and one of the patrons powers that can recover endurance during the lag after using EM pulse. It seems to be working well and the powers look great.
IMHO if you want success with your DP you need to be able to stop the opposition hitting you so whatever secondary you have you need a good slow or hold.
For travel originally I took stealth and hover/fly as I had a vision of thin manic floating shooter destroying all but as I was finding lvling difficult I respeced fly out and replaced it with SS and the fighting pool. On paper this was stronger but in practice I couldn't stay alive in teams unless there was a really good agro magnet so I have now gone back to my original concept. This is now working great, I'm not sure if that is because I'm not the best player or because you avoid a lot of the agro up high. Anyway it allows me to swoop down hold the mob and then hit them with Hail if bullets and bullet rain. Cool
Dont worry if it seems tough at low lvl an stick with it until lvl 40 and its great. GL

I'm going to pick and pull the above poster's comment and pull out what DP/Rad can do:

Quote:

Originally Posted by PillBug_EU My advice at low lvls would be to find teams or your going to get frustrated.

Not a bad idea, and a /rad will always be welcome in a team due to heals and the occasional hefty debuff on a troublesome mob. If you are soloing, there are two things you need to be doing: 1. Standard Ammo (KB effects) 2. Radiation Infection (enemy -def & -to hit). You will be going through missions slowly, methodically, and healing every opportunity that you can, but this isn't a bad thing. You get to know your set very well.

Quote:

IMHO if you want success with your DP you need to be able to stop the opposition hitting you so whatever secondary you have you need a good slow or hold.

This is true, but /rad has this with Radiation Infection. This is also why /dark is a pretty popular combination with DP/. Not so much on the hold, but you also get a slow in Lingering Radiation. DP/ can get you a hold in Suppressive Fire, which is probably not bad to anchor your debuffs on.

/Rad is a popular secondary, it does a lot of things well. I think it's a good secondary for a starting Corr (it has next to no learning curve) and is low mental-maintenance* (end maintenance on the other hand - you're gonna want to watch your end usage). It also is a very forgiving powerset for builds. There are at least two skippable powers (Choking Cloud and Fallout), and up to four (Mutation, EMP - I don't recommend skipping the rez, and EMP can be handy but might not be impressed with the output YMMV) that can give you room for more in your primary or for power-pools. You will really shine in teams as you'll be contributing to everyone mowing down mobs, but will go slower solo because you don't have people soaking up the aggro you generate with your debuffs

I think DP/ is less important for what it does in damage output than what it can do for other effects to help your toon be survivable. The set has a lot of secondary effects which should be utilized as much as possible to your advantage. Remember that, work with it, expect to faceplant when you overextend yourself (don't be discouraged when it does - you're a squishy), and enjoy how awesome you look when you pop a cap in a critter running in fear from you and the shot carries them off their feet. =D

I've just started a DP/Rad which is my first corruptor as well (currently lvl 38). Some thoughts about the set so far:

- I love the animations.
- The AOE damage of the set is very lacking with the exception of Hail of Bullets
- I basically feel weak and underpowered when Hail of Bullets is recharging and reasonably powerful when it is up (or weak any time before lvl 32).
- Choking Cloud works synergistically with Hail of Bullets since you'll want to be in the thick of things to use it effectively and CC will help prevent lots of direct damage to you and your allies from mobs at close range.
- The short range on Executioner's Shot is very annoying. I've wasted lots of time standing around waiting for it to go off, but it often doesn't because of range issues. I've respecced out of it in my latest build. Either this power needs to do more damage, or the range needs to be increased to be worth taking, at least in the earlier levels. Perhaps, at a higher level, when doing lots of strike forces with AVs or Giant Monsters, this will be a better power as part of a good single target chain.
- The damage on Empty Clips and Bullet Rain really needs a boost to help stop the feeling of weakness while waiting for Hail of Bullets to recharge.
- Single target damage is decent but no stand-out powers here.
- I highly recommend a defensive oriented build since, typically, you will be in melee range of lots of mobs when using Hail of Bullets.
- Slot Radiation Infection with -tohit as soon as possible to help prevent things from hitting you and your allies and use it at the beginning of every fight (which seems especially important since you'll be in the middle of the action trying to get off Hail of Bullets before you die).
- You'll want a high recharge build to help Hail of Bullets recharge faster.
- At low and medium levels, especially while soloing, use default ammunition for knockback. I find that knockback lands surprisingly often and prevents lots of damage to you (more so than any of the other secondary effects). Be warned, you'll be hated by groups if you leave default ammunition on while grouping.
- The cone on Empty Clips seems very strange. I'm very used to using cone AOE powers, but this one, more often than not, seems to not hit the intended targets no matter how optimally I position myself. Maybe I need to experiment with increasing the range to make it more useful.
- Really, Swap Ammo and Hail of Bullets are the two standouts in the set, everything else seems like rebadged versions of other powers with nice animations.

For ideas on a build check out my posts on this thread:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com//showthread.php?t=223377